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People sit in a cafe outside the Apple Store in Dubai on May 8, 2025.

Iran names US tech, finance firms in new Middle East threat list

Firms listed as potential targets included Oracle, Microsoft, Apple, Google, Meta, IBM, Palantir and Nvidia, while banking giant JPMorgan and UAE-based AI firm G42 were also listed.

Latest News

Analysis

Iran’s longest-ever internet blackout leaves 99% offline: What to know

Traffic rolls along a main throughfare under a banner with images of past and present leaders that reads in Farsi, "Domino fall", as daily life returns to the streets following nationwide protests, in the Iranian capital Tehran on January 19, 2026. Demonstrations sparked in late December by anger over economic hardship exploded into protests widely seen as the biggest challenge to the Iranian leadership in years. Limited internet access briefly returned in Iran before dropping again, a monitor said January

Samuel Wendel

By Samuel Wendel

In Washington, DC, reporting on regional business and tech

What we know about UAE blocking X accounts accused of misinformation

Attendees take a picture of French Prime Minister Edouard Philippe as he delivers a speech during a visit to the Louvre Abu Dhabi Museum on February 10, 2018, on Saadiyat island in the Emirati capital, to launch the French-Emirati "Year of Cultural Dialogue". (Photo by KARIM SAHIB / AFP) (Photo by KARIM SAHIB/AFP via Getty Images)

United Arab Emirates

Samuel Wendel

Senior Market Research Analyst

In Washington, DC, reporting on regional business and tech

Adam Lucente

News and Business Correspondent

In New York City, reporting on regional news, militancy, climate change

David Rosenberg

In Tel Aviv, reporting on business and tech

Hydrogen renewable energy production pipeline - hydrogen gas for clean electricity solar and wind turbine facility.

UAE, Egypt to develop major green hydrogen project in Mauritania

The UAE is interested in Africa's green hydrogen potential, but the lack of development in the country could prove challenging.

This picture taken on May 11, 2022 shows a view of the main headquarters of Qatari news broadcaster Al Jazeera in the capital Doha.

UAE unblocks several Qatar news sites as ties between two nations warm

Several Qatari-owned news websites had been inaccessible to UAE residents since relations worsened in 2016 over Doha's support for the Muslim Brotherhood, but at least four are now unblocked.

People watch the lauching of NASA and SpaceX Dragon Crew-6 mission to International Space Station, at the Mohammed bin Rashid Space Centre (MBRSC) in Dubai on March 2, 2023. - A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket blasted off to the International Space Station carrying two NASA astronauts, a Russian cosmonaut and the second Emirati to voyage to space. (Photo by KARIM SAHIB/AFP via Getty Images)

UAE sends second astronaut to space on longest Arab mission

Sultan Saif AlNeyadi will collaborate with NASA and other international space agencies to conduct 19 scientific studies in a wide array of fields.

Technicians work at the headquarters of the Israeli company 1MRobotics, in the Israeli coastal city of Tel Aviv on, January 11, 2023. - Behind a seemingly ordinary storefront in Tel Aviv, the Israeli company is speeding up online shopping by replacing staff with robots that manoevure around small, streetside storerooms. (Photo by JACK GUEZ / AFP) (Photo by JACK GUEZ/AFP via Getty Images)

Israeli tech rebound hinges on judicial reform

The Israeli tech downturn is likely to deepen this year as start-up funding continues to decline. Recovery in the crucial sector depends on the government's judicial overhaul.

David Rosenberg

David Rosenberg

In Tel Aviv, reporting on business and tech

An employee at "al-Gameya", a tech startup the runs an app to facilitate for strangers to create an informal money-pooling association to provide access for money in time of need, holds a phone with the application open at the company offices in Egypts capital Cairo on September 12, 2021. - Cash-strapped Egyptians fearful of banks have long relied on a "gameya" to access money in time of need, but now tech startups are cashing in on the practice. Such cooperative systems that allow people to save and borrow

Mega funding rounds fuel Middle East's rising fintech giants

Funding rounds over $100 million were once almost non-existent in the Middle East. But that’s changing now during the fintech boom with regional companies raising more capital than ever.

Samuel Wendel

In Washington, DC, reporting on regional business and tech

Aisha Mohammed Ali, 25, a mother of five who is a refugee from Aleppo, Syria, teaches the alphabet to one of her daughters, on January 5, 2022 in Tripoli, Lebanon. Tripoli is home to one of the country's largest population of Syrian refugees, 9 out of 10 of whom live in extreme poverty. (Photo by Andreea Campeanu/Getty Images)

Syrian refugees in Lebanon turn to TikTok 'begging' for money

TikTok has allowed thousands of refugees in Lebanon to beg for money from donors online by exposing their children and poor conditions to the outside world, a method that heightens the risk of exploitation and human-trafficking.

The Mukaab plan

Saudi Arabia plans for ‘world’s largest downtown’ in Riyadh

The project's centerpiece, a 400-meter cube, will feature both traditional Arabic design elements and futuristic technology.

Doosan Mobility Innovation's DS30W hydrogen fuel cell drone is displayed at CES 2022 at the Las Vegas Convention Center on January 6, 2022 in Las Vegas, Nevada.

How Israel’s HevenDrones latest hydrogen-powered drone can help UAE

The lightweight aerial vehicle for defense or commercial use is the latest fruit of diplomatic normalization between the two countries, and will be featured at IDEX next week.

Bahrain hotel to accept cryptocurrency payments

Crypto continues to grow in Bahrain despite the global crash.

A visitor takes an images with a smartphone at the Designer Showcase during the Vogue Fashion Dubai Experience 2015 at The Dubai Mall on October 29, 2015 in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. (Photo by Jacopo Raule/Getty Images for Vogue and The Dubai Mall)

Investors bank on Middle East super apps, from Algeria to the UAE

"Super apps" are starting to attract super-sized investments in the region.

Samuel Wendel

In Washington, DC, reporting on regional business and tech

In this photo illustration, the welcome screen for the OpenAI "ChatGPT" app is displayed on a laptop screen on February 03, 2023 in London, England. OpenAI, whose online chatbot ChatGPT made waves when it was debuted in December, announced this week that a commercial version of the service, called ChatGPT Plus, would soon be available to users in the United States. (Photo by Leon Neal/Getty Images)

Analysis

Dubai’s DEWA will be first to use ChatGPT in UAE, but is the tech ready?

ChatGPT often makes wrong statements and calculations, yet companies are eager to start using the revolutionary technology.

By Salim A. Essaid

Cryptocurrency

Analysis

Dubai's cryptocurrency regulator issues new rules for metaverse, virtual assets

New laws in Dubai define the rules for trading virtual assets and operating in the metaverse, including explain how to lend/borrow and remit virtual assets — as well as fines for some violations.

By Salim A. Essaid